Funny how all it takes is three simple words to change your world. At least they’re enough to bring you out of a daze just long enough for another declaration to throw you for a loop. Tae-joon learns that nicety can only get you so far and Jae-hee realizes that perhaps she can still be useful after all. Can a friendship sustain this kind of love triangle?

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EPISODE 12 RECAP

Eun-gyul musters all the courage he has to utter three simple words: “I like you.”

Jae-hee’s in disbelief but she tells him to stop kidding around as if that will undo whatever he just said. You can see the disappointment and hurt on his face as he tells her that he’s serious, “I really like you.”

You sure are popular lately, Jae-hee. But before she can respond, Tae-joon walks up to them, acting surprised to see them together. Well, this isn’t awkward or anything.

Jae-hee clarifies that she went to Eun-gyul’s house because she was worried and they came back together. The roomies head inside and the door closes on Eun-gyul.

Once they’re alone, Tae-joon asks what they were talking about earlier. It takes a few nudges before Jae-hee breaks out of her daze. She admits nothing but her flushed cheeks suggest otherwise.

She brightens when she hears that Tae-joon will be spending the night in the dorm and Tae-joon teasingly reminds her who the owner of this room is. Jae-hee: “You.”

They smile and Tae-joon hesitantly clarifies that he and Hanna aren’t in “that kind of relationship.” Tae-joon, haven’t you learned that Jae-hee needs to hear things loud and clear? Metaphors and vague answers don’t penetrate through that dense head.

She does seem to start to make a connection and in the bathroom, Tae-joon wonders if Eun-gyul confessed his feelings for Jae-hee. Somebody ought to by now, don’tcha think?

Recalling Jae-hee’s hesitancy after he confessed his heart, Eun-gyul gives himself a little pep-talk, “You did well! You did the right thing!” He sinks into his chair the next moment, however, doubting himself.

Uh, did you just tell your hot roommate not to take off his shirt? I understand that you feel uncomfortable about it now but what about the rest of us? Eun-gyul asks his roommate to be a sport (grumble) and Hyun-jae looks at him like, Whatever, dude.

Eun-gyul tilts his head as Hyun-jae strips down and realizes that just because he thinks he might be gay doesn’t mean he’s attracted to every guy. He says aloud that Hyun-jae must not be all that attractive and gets a shirt thrown at him in response.

What? These are for references, I swear. You can decide if he’s Min Hot-jae or not.

Jae-hee finds herself unable to sleep, her thoughts distracted by Eun-gyul’s confession. She calls Tae-joon and asks, “Are you sleep?” He retorts, “Would I have picked up if I were?”

She jabbers on about how it must have been hard on Tae-joon to suddenly get a roommate who nagged him and how tiring it must have been to carry her. And you’re totally positive he has no idea you’re a girl, right?

Tae-joon listens with a smile and teases that yes, she was heavy. “But… there was never a time when I found it tiresome.” Now that he thinks about it there was never a time he thanked her, “for making me jump again.”

She beams.

She sticks her head out to tell him to repeat his words to hear it in person. But he answers all, ‘S not a big deal but what were you talking with Eun-gyul about?

Jae-hee stammers and then abruptly hangs up their phone call.

All that training has paid off as he clears the 2.28m mark. Coach Baek is proud to see him back in tiptop shape, commenting that at this rate, he’ll have no trouble qualifying for the Olympics.

Which makes his following remark cut that much more, wondering why Hyun-jae always seems to do well in practice but breaks down under pressure during competitions. He reminds Hyun-jae that, “high jumping is a battle of willpower.”

It’s brains over brawn and Hyun-jae tenses.

Things are especially strained when the two of them are back in the locker room and Tae-joon’s words sound like mockery to his ears. Hyun-jae scoffs over Tae-joon’s concern – he’ll take care of his own future thankyouverymuch.

Tae-joon attempts to apologize but Hyun-jae’s already tuned out by now, so he gives a quick apology if he offended Hyun-jae at all. Once he’s gone, Hyun-jae slams and kicks his locker to let out his frustration.

We get a glimpse into the source of his stress through an earlier conversation with that snakelike endorser from Episode 1. He’d offered Hyun-jae an opportunity to team up with them and was pleased to hear that Hyun-jae was more willing to cooperate than Tae-joon.

And all Hyun-jae has to do to honor their deal is to beat Tae-joon in an upcoming competition. Instant stardom.

Jae-hee drops by the hospital bearing flowers and Hanna is none too pleased by her visit. She asks a final time if it’s true Jae-hee’s not living with Tae-joon because she likes him. Hanna: “Can I believe that?”

Jae-hee insists that she can though her eyes betray her words. Hanna takes them at face value and agrees to keep her secret from the school. Hmm, are you being genuine or have another card up your sleeve?

That surprises Jae-hee since that wasn’t the reason why she came by to visit. Placing a hand over Hanna’s, she says, “Don’t you ever give up on training. Because Seol Hanna’s prettiest when she’s doing rhythmic gymnastics.”

Eh? Jae-hee, are you an agent of motivation? Inspiration Fairy? Hanna seems genuinely touched by her words and Jae-hee has one more mantra to give in the form of a note before she leaves with a smile.

Hanna opens it and reads, “A miracle is just hard work by another name.”

Jae-hee is looking up tickets back to LA when Tae-joon returns from practice. She shuts her laptop in surprise which just makes it seem like she was caught red-handed and Tae-joon teasingly asks if she was watching porn.

They bicker back and forth all, I didn’t do it! Sure I’ll pretend you didn’t! *wink wink* When Jae-hee leaves for a moment, her phone goes off and Tae-joon peeks to see it’s Eun-gyul calling.

But before he can peer any longer, Jae-hee returns, snatching it away. She retreats to the bathroom as it continues to ring.

Seung-ri fusses with his hair to look perfect for that oh-so-casual bump-in with Hanna in the hospital corridor. He lists all the times they’ve met and now it’s such a coincidence that they’ve landed in the same hospital. And coincidences turn into destiny, don’tcha know.

He formally introduces himself, hoping that they can at least be acquaintances. Hanna remains relatively polite (at least for her) until he mentions that he’ll drop to banmal since she’s younger than him and all.

Her expression reads, Excuse you? Dude, you’re pushing it. She shrugs it off and then Seung-ri awkwardly switches back into jondae.

Then to make things worse, a nurse comes up to him saying that it’s about time he should fart or he won’t be getting any better. Which is when he involuntarily lets one rip and it’s a stinker. HA.

Tae-joon places a replacement to the moisturizer that broke earlier with a smile. Then he hears the shower running which makes his heart go thump thump. Well it was about time.

So he releases all that pent-up ki through pull-ups and push-ups. And Jae-hee comes out of the shower and gives an approving nod at his dedication to exercise.

He looks up to see her smile, which makes his heart thump even louder and he works out even harder. HA.

She notices the moisturizer on her desk and Tae-joon blusters that it came with the cosmetics he bought “at that place.” Jae-hee comments that she vowed that she would make sure the other one lasted for 500 years so she’ll make sure this one lasts for a thousand.

Thankfully she recalls when Tae-joon initially bought her the gift and then Eun-gyul’s confession. She suddenly gets up to leave but not before Tae-joon affixes a hat on her.

I love how Doc’s like, “I’m off-duty” when Jae-hee comes bursting through his door. He stays and after he’s filled in, he tells her that he’s been single for 8 years now. “Do I have to give you relationship advice too?”

Eun-gyul is a close friend whom she doesn’t want to see hurt. Doc: “Because you like Tae-joon?” He still thinks she’s a guy and that makes her feel guilty. Doc: “So that’s why you’re going to run away from it?” Does she any romantic feelings for someone here?

Jae-hee answers that she knows she’s not supposed to have those feelings under the guise of a male student. Doc is glad that she knows at least that since he wouldn’t have let her stay if she did.

He reminds her that more people will find out eventually and she’s lucky that she’s lasted this long. There’s not much time left and she may find that leaving may be harder than when she came in.

Eun-gyul finds Tae-joon fixing the broken light outside on his way back to the dorms. When Tae-joon asks about last night, he says that it was nothing.

Then when Tae-joon turns away, Eun-gyul admits, “I confessed my feelings for Jae-hee. I told Gu Jae-hee that I like him.”

Tae-joon tells him that Jae-hee’s a guy and Eun-gyul doesn’t blink an eye. “Whether he’s a guy or girl… all of that doesn’t matter anymore.” He’s going to see it to the end though he doesn’t know where that end will be.

Jae-hee walks back, both Doc and Hanna’s words resonate in her head. She steels herself that she can’t be swayed when she gets a text from Doc about a solution if she still feels awkward around Eun-gyul. She notices the fixed light and smiles since the darkened pathway spooked her before.

Doc asks Teacher Lee if she’s free in the weekend which makes Coach Baek’s ears perk up. Teacher Lee’s plan to play hard-to-get backfires on her when Doc says it’s too bad. She pouts even more when she learns that it’s work-oriented rather than a date.

They’ll be going somewhere with the kids early tomorrow morning so the more chaperones the better. Coach Baek tags along as well.

Tae-joon finds Eun-gyul outside the door contemplating whether or not to go inside. He calls Eun-gyul out on it to which Eun-gryul huffs, “I’m going in!” and charges inside.

He hands Jae-hee some milk, placing a hand on her shoulder. She slowly slides out of it and he laughs awkwardly that he can deliver her milk every day, like A Dog of Florence.
Tae-joon: “You mean Flanders.”

Tae-joon notices her packed things and Jae-hee explains that she’s helping Doc out with a volunteer event this weekend. Tae-joon says he’ll tag along and not one to lose, Eun-gyul says he’ll go too. After all, he’s the Volunteer King or in his words, “The King of… volunteering.”

He and Tae-joon engage in a round of one-upmanship as Tae-joon asks how many times Eun-gyul has volunteered (3 or 4) versus Tae-joon (since he was young). They put an end to it and as Eun-gyul leaves to pack his things, he whispers, “Gu Jae-hee, if you go, I’m going too.”

Tae-joon picks up on Jae-hee’s hesitancy and tellingly asks, “Do you not want him to come with us?” Jae-hee dismisses it and walks out.

He gets a text from Director Jang to check his e-mail and he stumbles upon a page open on Jae-hee’s computer that indicates she’s been looking into plane tickets back to LA.

At the hospital, Director Jang absolutely fumes – when was it that they told her that they were dating? She asks Hanna if they fought but Hanna cries, “I got sick and tired of him so I dumped him!”

Hanna cries and Director Jang hands her a tissue for her tears. And not too far off, we see Seung-ri smile at the news – this means Hanna’s available again.

The crew arrives in the countryside and Eun-gyul and Jae-hee hang back from the pack. Eun-gyul broaches the topic about his confession. He knows that he must have caught her off guard but he wanted to be true to his feelings.

Before Jae-hee can answer, he cuts in if it’s too much to ask to go back to the way things were, that is if she doesn’t completely hate him for liking her. Nothing has changed for him and he likes her just as much as he did before.

The trio explores the house and smiles at a portrait. An elderly woman identifies him as her husband and says that despite appearances, he was a troublemaker. When they ask where she is now, she replies, “He’s gone to a better place.” and they grow silent, realizing he might be dead.

Jae-hee is reluctant to change while the boys are still around so Tae-joon nudges to Eun-gyul that they’ll go for a walk, much to Eun-gyul’s confusion.

Alone now, she fixes herself up and readies herself to work. She gives herself a pep talk through Sangchu that she should at least enjoy the time she has left here.

Everyone gets to work and the boys do their best to carry the heavier loads for Jae-hee. Then later, Tae-joon asks that she hose down his back and she’s like, What? Hey, it won’t drive the plot but I ain’t complainin’.

They chitchat about the work they did today and Tae-joon thinks of asking if she’s really planning to leave before stopping himself. While drying himself with a towel, Jae-hee notices his ripped pants. “Take them off.” Rawr.

She means to mend them and then uses the excuse that she learned how to sew from Dad.

Which means we get to see Tae-joon. In colorful pjs. Priceless.

Jae-hee snaps a shot, saying she wants to save it as souvenir and Tae-joon notes that she sounds like someone who’s leaving. Jae-hee doesn’t answer.

At the hospital, Seung-ri spots Hanna looking longingly at a photo of Tae-joon. He recalls how he overheard that she broke up with Tae-joon and then sees her reach over the railing. He mistakes this as a heartbroken suicide attempt and dramatically holds her back.

Hanna screams for him to get off of her and when he doesn’t, she sends an elbow straight into his gut. But that doesn’t stop him and he’s grabbing her by the leg now – doesn’t she know that there are plenty of other guys out there besides Tae-joon?

Turns out Hanna was just trying to reach the photo that slipped out of her fingers and then Seung-ri starts bleeding through his ruptured stitches.

As they wheel him to the operating room, he grabs Hanna’s hand and barely ekes out that she should meet a better man… like him. LOL.

The trio dig in at dinner and Eun-gyul teases Tae-joon for his picky eating habits when he says doesn’t eat chicken. Then Tae-joon scowls as he watches the other two laugh about how they complement each other’s eating preferences.

As they’re getting ready for bed, Eun-gyul notices that he and Tae-joon have the same phone. Even setting up their bedding is a competitive task between them. pulling the blanket back and forth. (They end up ripping it in half.)

Suddenly, Eun-gyul asks Tae-joon, “What is Jae-hee to you?” A friend? A roommate? To him, they don’t seem like just friends. But Tae-joon should tell him if he’s mistaken and there may be nothing going on.

Jae-hee steps outside and hesitantly asks for Tae-joon to accompany her to the outhouse since it’s dark out. She freaks out at the bugs and Tae-joon shoos them away for her. He then laughs when she tells him to stay at a safe distance.

On their way back, he asks if Jae-hee is really planning to go back to the States. She admits that she originally came here to see Tae-joon jump again. Now that he’s started training again, there’s nothing for her to help him with anymore.

She’s torn but it’s not like she can stay here forever and Tae-joon hints that it might become more uncomfortable for her and she should think it over.

Back at the house the totally not-dead grandpa scolds the kids for assuming that he’d passed on. “Am I a corpse that came back to life?”

Doc attends to Teacher Lee, who’s suffering from indigestion. Coach Baek reasons that some plum extract might help and he goes outside, taste-testing the various jars and reeling, “That’s salty!” or, “That’s spicy!”

Eun-gyul finds Jae-hee sitting outside, unable to fall asleep. He pinpoints that something’s on her mind and asks if she’s familiar with the terms, “bamboo forest” or “The king has donkey ears!”

(He refers to a folktale [there are several retellings] where the gist is a man was entrusted with the king’s secret that ate at him until he had to yell it out in the forest.)

Eun-gyul assures her that he’s a great listener and offers to be her bamboo forest. So Jae-hee leans in and whispers, “Cha Eun-gyul is…” and then shouts,” …a big idiot!” Eun-gyul does the same and they laugh as Tae-joon looks on.

Poor Coach Baek. He finds the plum extract in the fridge and then smiles when Teacher Lee thanks him. He places a hand on her forehead to check for a fever but she recoils, “Your hand smells… like the bathroom.”

Coach Baek sniffs and declares that it’s just fermented soybeans not that other thing. (what, poop?) But she and Doc just stare back at him with a look of disbelief.

Good news for Eun-gyul. Coach calls the next morning to inform him that someone else has pulled out which means he’s made the national team. Eun-gyul listens in shocked silence and has to be pinched to believe that it’s not a dream.

He immediately shares the happy news and they celebrate in a round of hugs.

Later that evening, Tae-joon sits outside and recalls the times he saw Eun-gyul be nice to Jae-hee all the way to his admission that he likes her.

Eun-gyul packs his things to meet with the coach tomorrow and sincerely thanks Jae-hee – this is all thanks to her. He belatedly realizes that he’s grabbed the wrong phone and backtracks but Jae-hee’s nowhere to be found.

She’s in the kitchen trying to reach for a bowl on her tippy toes. She’s too short and a hand silently retrieves it for her: Tae-joon.

She asks if he’s looking for something and Tae-joon replies, “I came to see you. Because I have something to tell you.” Gah, are you actually gonna say it this time?

They hear Eun-gyul’s voice outside, calling for Jae-hee, and when she makes for the door, Tae-joon blocks it with his hand.

Looking at her, he says in a serious tone, “Don’t concern yourself with Eun-gyul when you’re with me. I’m not going to send you away to America. Stay by my side.”

Jae-hee: Derp.

COMMENTS

Is she surprised/expectant/excited/slack-jawed/sad? Mm, hard to tell because in these past two episodes all of those expressions look pretty darn similar. So I think it’s okay that I take some creative liberty to tag a word that best describes that moment. Some scenes are harder than others.

It was a bit of a disappointment for me to watch this week’s episodes when we were gaining so much momentum last week. We were right around the point where angst is introduced to keep our main couple apart but really the only thing barring them is each other. In fact we could have avoided this whole, “I don’t want to go back to America” “I don’t want to go to Canada” conflict all together several episodes ago.

Why you ask? Because a little birdie told me this week that if Tae-joon went to train with Coach Holton and Jae-hee returned to the States, why they’re only a hop and a skip away! Yes, they’re still in different countries but Tae-joon could have still pursued high jumping and Jae-hee wouldn’t have to keep her secret for much longer. But hey, I’m not writing this drama and we need the Angst!

The scene where Hyun-jae was talking to that sleazeball endorser made me particularly nervous for Hyun-jae’s trajectory. We see time and time again that he’s not such a bad guy: he works hard, he cares for his friends, and a boy who needs someone to remind him that it’s his birthday. At face value, it seems like the writers are setting him up to be a sellout but I’m holding out for a much nobler reason behind his decision. It’s a classic drama trope but maybe Mom’s dying or he has 7 siblings to take care of. If anything his character deserves a good explanation why he felt he needed to resort to going corporate when he was so against it in the first place.

It took you forever and a day to act on your feelings and actually say something about it, huh Tae-joon? You sure are lucky that this girl’s only got eyes on you or she could have been scooped up by two other (potentially) more deserving men. By the time he said, “I have something to tell you” several times, the other suitors were fully confident to protect Jae-hee and made sure they have her best interest at heart.

Actions are great, don’t get me wrong, but a girl needs to hear those words – especially when it comes to this girl. Tell us why she should stay by your side, Tae-joon. She might not get it right away, so pinch her cheeks if you have to.

It always annoys me when female parts are written this way – so that the girl part is a blank slate upon which any reader/watcher/fan can project herself without any difficulty.

The blank face, the wishy-washy actions, the lack of awareness of both herself and those around her – I just can’t figure out how she manages to do anything, much less win the affections of three guys and inspire them to mind-boggling success. Does she cast spells when we aren’t looking?

See, that’s my issue with this drama. I don’t. Get. It. What do they see in her?
I am a fan of cross dressing dramas, with previous more successful ones of this theme (specifically, You’re Beautiful and Sungkyunkwan Scandal), I like the girl and see why the guys fall for her. This one, not so much. I know some had find Go Min Nam a bit too dim but I love her. Jae Hee is like a dimmer, less adorable Go Min Nam (and I much prefer Park Shin Hye as an actress).
The only saving grace for me is Eun Kyul and seeing him go through heartache is too much. I don’t usually root for the second lead, like rarely, but I don’t really have much of a choice here. I mean, on top of the fact that Eun Kyul is the stronger actor of the three and has the friggin most adorable smile ever…and he just cut his hair!

I definitely agree EG’s the gutsier guy but TJ is also so cute. EG’s confession reminds me of Coffee Prince when Han Gyu told Eun Chan that he liked her. “Whether you’re a man, or an alien… I don’t care anymore. I tried to get rid of my feelings and I couldn’t… so let’s go, as far as we can go…” Relived it through JB’s recap: http://www.dramabeans.com/2007/08/anatomy-of-a-scene-tenth-cup/

HAHAHAHAH I am loving this story now… and its so funny that your little birdie friend mentioned it, becos that thought occured to me too hahahaha But I suppose the budget is not there…. Isn’t training with Coach Holton supposed to be awesome for Tae Joon’s jumping career, the very fact that he didn’t go for Jae Hee makes her whole staying with him to help him, kinda moot, not quite as romantic as hoped…

For what it’s worh, I think the reason why TJ has not been forthcoming with his “I like you” is bec. he knows that once he tells JH, he would have to admit that he knows she’s a girl. And we all know what the consequences of that admission will be… it’s bye bye JH!

I though TJ has really been improving in his acting, which is all the more obvious when compared with “deadpan JH.” I seriously cannot tell what she’s feeling anymore. Hasn’t the director noticed yet? And her stylist should be fired! Her outfits are so ill-fitting and uncoordinated, esp. when she stands side-by-side with nattily dressed TJ.

Seriously, I need to know:1. when TJ really found out she was a girl, 2. how TJ got injured in the first place, 3. a more detailed look into JH’s life in the US; was she sick? bullied? 4. The reason behind Hyun Jae’s antagonism for TJ, and most of all, WHY DO ALL THESE AWESOME GUYS LOVE SUCH A NO-BRAIN, DEADPAN JH!

well i m also curious to kno how TJ got injured but as to when TJ got kno JH is a girl, i don exactly remember the episode number but it was the one where JH’s brother comes to genie hight o talk to the doc abt TJ’s situation and found abt JH going to genie high.

While the siblings were quarelling over the the stupidy of JH being a girl living in a boys dorm, TJ happens ot pass by and hear them.

1. She really really can’t act. She has those sad, deadfish eyes that make her look depressed and boring all the time. Also stupid; but that is probably the writing.

2. She has a really obvious womanly figure, which is good in real life, but really doesn’t work in this context. You can say it’s good she’s not stick-thin like other actresses, but what I’m saying is that with her built, it’s so clear that she’s a girl – from her hips and thighs to her chest area. Its especially clear when standing next to Taejoon. So maybe it’s not the stylist’s fault? Even Yoon Eun Hye in Coffee Prince wasn’t so obviously a girl.

3. She totally doesn’t look like she’s a good runner. I’m sorry. The scenes where she’s training with the track and field team make me wonder how she’s even in the team.

Lemme clarify that I don’t hate Sulli. I just think that it was a mistake to cast her in this drama. Someone more athletic looking or can act more energetically – like Krystal from the same group f(x) as her – would be better. From watching High Kick 3, I could tell that Krystal could act, although her character was annoying. Plus she’s pretty charming and can actually SPEAK ENGLISH, which makes it more believable that she came from America. Okay, I’m sorry, I’ll stop now.

*whispers back* There’s a girl in this drama? I’ve been blinded by belly buttons…

9.2.1.1.2 jomoSeptember 24th, 2012 at 6:04 PM

** girls in the drama **
? ? ?
Now who’s pulling my leg?

Come to think of it, they should just have an invisible person playing JH, maybe wearing a ball cap so we know where she is on screen. That is how important the writers have made her personality.
Not sure if we can blame the actress or not.
Has anyone counted how many times she says, “What?”

9.2.2 shelhassSeptember 24th, 2012 at 9:37 AM

I’m not really trying to defend Sulli, but since last episode I noticed she’s sporting that really-tired-BRB look those actress/singers/multitask-celebrity have when their poor work conditions start to take its toll on them.

There was a scene where I got seriously concerned about her, who looked like she would drop dead at any moment. Maybe she’s too tired to concentrate on her acting, maybe she’s just bad at it.

And yes, Krystal has a better acting performance. Victoria is doing a good job on hers as well.

Although I agree that Krystal has better English and a better figure to play JH, she just doesn’t have the blank puppy face look/attitude. I mean, Krystal is cool, she has a harder look and she definitely doesn’t look like someone who gets tripped every other episode.

I don’t think it’s just Sulli who does or does not act well, it’s her character that is hard to act out in a good way.

On the one hand, JH is this really cool person, coming from the US, being a super athlete etc, on the other hand, JH is this really ditzy and clumsy person who’d trip over her own feet, while being feminine to a fault (at least, if the things Sulli has been doing (the birthday cream!!!) are an indication).
JH is just too two-sided >_<

Ah, and just to clarify, i'm only defending Sulli because I find her character too confusing and I don't think many young actresses would be able to successfully complete the role. I find Krystal also unsuitable because I cringe when I imagine her doing all those feminine stuff and her tripping and falling all the time. Krystal is too cool for that xD

I don’t think Krystal would suit Jae-hee tbh; she has a certain sharpness about her that wouldn’t lend itself well to a character that is so mind-bogglingly dumb/naive/innocent. To put it bluntly, as Sherry said, Krystal is too cool for a character as lame as Jae-hee, and I’d hate to see her have to act so pathetically ditzy – at least Ahn Soojung had some amusing spunk/sass to her.

I am curious to see her tackle more complex roles, because for a rookie she acquitted herself well in HK3, despite how poorly written and undeveloped her character was.

Honestly, now that I’ve seen Sulli continually struggle to convey any sense of Jae-hee’s psychology (largely the fault of the writing to be sure, but she hasn’t really done anything interesting with this character), I’m wondering if maybe that clip I watched of Sulli in Punch Lady as a child actress, which initially made me excited to see how she’d fare, had less to do with her being a talented actress and more to do with the pleasant surprise of seeing her play against type (against that sugary sweet, doll-like, aegyo-y image she has). I think she’s fairly competent, but I expected more subtlety/nuance from her, acting befitting that of a professional…since that’s originally what she was when she joined SM. I’ll have to see how she does in her next project.

I think Kim Ji-won would’ve done a better job in this role – she’s not any more girly than Sulli (although both are uber-feminine) – her body’s at least a bit more boyish – I bet she could’ve imbued Jae-hee with a more interesting energy (she proved in HK3 that she’s a talented actress…so really she deserves better than both Hanna AND Jae-hee).

Hi gummimochi, thanks for the recap! I haven’t finished reading yet, but I just watched this episode and I simply must write this comment to get things off my chest hahaha.

I’m strangely still enjoying this show. It’s great when it’s cute, and Lee Hyun Woo really is the saving grace of this show. I don’t know if it’s because Sulli can’t act, but I CAN’T STAND her portrayal of Jae Hee. She basically has no personality, and was a depressed little nut until she met Taejoon; so now everything in her life is about him.

Minho as Taejoon is serviceable, but I don’t really like where his character is going. I think it’s super selfish that he knows he’s a girl, and probably knows the hardship she’s going through to conceal her gender, yet keeps telling her to stay by his side. Like DUDE, if you ask her like that, she’s totally gonna stay a guy for the rest of her life. I also think that it’s a little manipulative that he’s so nice to her because he knows she’s a girl, but she thinks that he’s just being really nice.

On a brighter note – I LOLed at Eun Gyul stopping Hyun Jae from taking off his shirt. HAHAHA. I love Hyun Jae, he’s just such a real character (besides his hotness). He’s the only one who seems to study, and he trains hard, plus he’s nice to Eun Gyul. <3

I think overall it was a pretty good episode, I’m happy they brought Hyun Jae’s story back. I need to know more about his grudge or something!I also thought that the scriptwriters should put somemore life into Jae Hee’s character, I mean, I loved her at the beginning but she’s becoming pretty bland right now ( though probably because it’s more concentrated on Tae Joon and Eun Gyul’s feeling or whatever so she’s pushed back a little storyline wise).

On a side note, I need more Doc scenes, I luff his character hahaha. He’s eccentric but not to the point where I’ll cringe. I reek fascination for him. and his face. ofcourse. It’s obvious

As always Eun Gyul is doing a better job at caring for Jae-hee’s feelings than Tae-joon.

I root for Tae-joon cause I know he likes her, and she likes him, but this idiotic angst has to end right now. Those two have nothing to fear, besides her being in an all-boys school, but if she decides to get back home everything just goes to its rightful place.

Why Tae-joon doesn’t try to find a way to train in the States? Why does SHE have to leave all she has behind to be by his side? WHAT, you’re more important than her, is that what you’re implying Kang Tae-Joon?

This show is duper cute right, but it does an wonderful job of getting on my nerves.

THANK YOU!!! I couldn’t have said it better myself I hope they get their relationship figured out, so we can see them together as a couple and see how they interact like that.. I’m SO sick of unnecessary angst!

Good. I’m not the only one thinking that this drama would have been over if Taejoon ne to Canada and Jaehee went back to America. I figured the drama would be over and they wouldn’t have the teenage angst and identity crisis that everyone is going through. Hahaha

Still the best part of all this is Eungul and Hyunjae. Eungul for his comedic role and Hyunjae for the mystery of why he’s so desperate to surpass Taejoon. It appears that Hyunjae was one of Taejoon’s fan until Taejoon gave up high jumping. I hope the writer and director flushes out the story so we get a full story out of it. I also love the doc! What a sarcastic sense of humor. Love him. Loe the actor.

Thanks for the recap. Still enjoying the drama. My mind got stuck on “meuk dong(?)” Whaat? Seems to me that scene was put in there just to distract us from any flaws that may be going on with the drama. But, hey, who am I to complain?

It did seem quite out of character for Tae Joon, who has always seemed very modest, especially because he knows she’s a girl – although he WAS shirtless in front of her at the photo shoot, too.

But suddenly he’s just gonna whip off the shirt and start wooing her with his awesome bod? It didn’t seem likely.

Still, I did think to myself (in this order): THANK YOU GOD. Why the hell did they do that, that isn’t like Tae Joon. NO SERIOUSLY, THANK YOU GOD. Hmm – wonder if he’s feeling threatened by Eun Gyul so he’s gonna go the beast route? Wow, it got hot in here. I should drink some water. Hey – I wonder if that water is cold? The front of his pants are wet, but I’m not complaining. Although wet jeans are REALLY uncomfortable. Wow…his legs are really long. I love narrow hips. I wonder how old this guy is? THANK YOU GOD. Really, really, really – THANK YOU. NOOOOOOOOO…why is he putting his shirt back on?

Haha JoAnne! I do really think Tae-joon wanted to sway Jae-hee by showing off some more of the goods. He was probably like, “Dude, she didn’t blink at me at the model shoot, I gotta show some more skin since that Eun-gyul kid stepped up his game by confessing! But if I confess, too, then she’ll feel like she has to leave. Oh sh*t, what do I do?” *takes off shirt* *rips jeans in upper thigh part, but on the outside leg as not to arouse suspicion*. “Hey Jae-hee, can you give me a deung-mok?” heh heh heh…

I think the issue with Sulli’s acting is that her sad/solemn expressions aren’t so expressive. She does happy expressions fairly naturally, and I’m pretty satisfied with that range of her expressions. I can also definitely recognize her “frustrated” faces. I think, in her case, they should have given her more lines to express her sadness or serious situations instead of relying on her face alone to tell her story. I also think that as Jae-hee she is really trying to keep her feelings (especially for Tae-joon) under wraps, so I think that, along with minimal face expression contributes to the “cardboard” feel. If it weren’t for that scene in episode 9 where she is telling herself in the bathroom to stop having feelings for Tae-joon, and the one in episode 10 on the bus where she touches his hair and tells herself not to get greedy, I wouldn’t have thought that she was actually in love with him.

Other than that, I think she’ll get better with more acting experience, although maybe not before this show ends. I’m still watching, though, only because I a MinSul shipper and nothing would make me squeal in glee more than to see those two get together in real life and populate the earth with cute, cute idol babies, but if not, at least they had their time on this show together.

so it’s like…a standard request? Why is this not part of the obligatory scene list? Pre-Army we get the deung-mok, post-Army we get the shower scene.

Shouldn’t this already be a rule? Why am I having to do the rule-setting here? I’ve seen plenty of dramas by this point, and I’ve never seen this. Judging by the comments left here and other threads, plenty of my fellow connoiseurs of Fine Drama-ing have never heard of it either.

Apparently when one of the girls from SISTAR injured her legs last year, one of the other girls gave her a deung-mok, but after awhile, she ended up giving herself one by sitting on the floor of the shower with her legs up against the wall as not to get her legs wet, which is the whole point of the deung-mok. I like Minho’s version better, though.

I love this drama. I’m guessing that the reason he is keeping mum about her being a girl to himself and to her is because he knows if she is found out, she will go away back to the US or to another school. Anxiety separartion I’m guessing because he lost his mom being far away and never go to see him jump high.

I absolutely adore EG for embracing his feeling unmindful if the person is a boy or a girl. I’m sure I will give him relief when its finally revealed she is in fact a female. I can’t wait for the next episodes!

I Like Hyun-jae, -wish he’d get more screen time though. As for why he hates Tae, I’m a go out on a limb here and say who knows maybe they’re brothers? I’m a big fan of Hana Kimi and I’ve long since watched both the Japanese and Chinese versions. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both adaptions and now enjoying the Korean remake as well. No matter the differences the base foundation of the storyline is pretty much kept the same, even if there’s more or less of the characters introduced. Which brings up the point Where does Sano’s brother fit in? The manga as well as the other two series have always introduced him -considering he’s one of the vital player in the book with regards to Sano’s reconnection with his father. It’s almost the end of the series I hope they didn’t edit him out of this!

This episode was better than ep 11, but I agree with you that last week’s episodes were WAYYY more fun and exciting… But I enjoyed the two boys 1 UP each other without Jae-Hee around to watch or take notice..

I really want to know whats going to happen next.. there’s only going to be a few more episodes till the end so they better pick up the story quick!! or its going to be super rushed…

This part was my favorite:
“Uh, did you just tell your hot roommate not to take off his shirt? I understand that you feel uncomfortable about it now but what about the rest of us? Eun-gyul asks his roommate to be a sport (grumble) and Hyun-jae looks at him like, Whatever, dude.”

What’s ridiculous about the scene is that, a few eps back, when Eun Gyul asked Hyun Jae about guy-on-guy feelings, Hyun Jae pulled his shirt tighter around himself. I mean, I’m as grateful as the next ahjumma for the character inconsistency, but .

Am I the only one who loves Coach Baek? *crickets* I just love his Awkward Fail moments. He’s so earnest, it’s cute. Plus he talks a bit like Cha Seung-won. Or rather Dokko Jin, which cracks me up.

Yay for more Hyun-jae! Boo for more clothes on Hyun-jae. I hope we get a good story for him. One of the best things about the Hana Kimi story is all the little arcs of the minor characters, laughing and fighting and growing together, and not just the leads, who can get boring sometimes, to be honest. Their wackiness kept the jdrama from getting all melodramatic teen angst.

I do like the sexual tension in this episode, though they’ve been living together this long and he’s only now feeling all shy about the sound of her taking a shower? Okay then.

Yeah, I totally agree with the little birdie, gummi. I also don’t get how he thinks not going to Canada and jumping (like she wanted him to) is a show of how special she is to him. So he’s asking her to stay until she gets caught, exposed ansd humiliated? That’s a great time to say, “Hey, by the way, I knew you were a girl all this time and I have a crush on you! Let’s date!”

I also found Jae-hee’s little speech to Hanna really stupid and patronizing. It’s not like Hanna just decided rhythmic gymnastic wasn’t for her one day. She’s injured and probably can’t be an athlete anymore. How is it helpful to say, “You’re prettiest when you’re competing?” in this situation? So, basically she’s nothing without sports and she can’t ever move on. How comforting. The fact that this scene was only inserted to show how sweet and kind our heroine is to be able to go and comfort the EVIL girl, and thus is more worthy of the hero, makes it even worse. I don’t like being manipulated, writers.

Wow, all that was more negative than I meant. I really did enjoy this episode. Eun-gyul continues to be the heart of this show, and I love his every scene. And I’m also glad that there’s finally some movement on the OTP front. Although, dude, you finally made your confession and it was the wrong one! First comes, “I know you’re a girl!”

The poor girl just doesn’t have the wits to infer that from your statement that implies you like her. SLOW, CLEAR sentences, Tae-joonie.

Thanks for the recap as always, gummi. It makes watching the drama so much more fun.

Coach is a cutie I agree! I think her comment to Ha Na encompasses so much more than her looks (a limitation of subbing perhaps) I took it that she meant Ha Nas best expression of herself is on that floor and to fight for it

I really liked this episode. I’m enjoying it. Tae-joon. Half naked and drenched (please please someone get me a pic of Mr. Hottie McHotHot getting his back washed, haha!) in water while in…Okay, okay I’ll stop. I don’t have the other noonas here to protect me, haha!

Sulli’s acting doesn’t bother me. It really doesn’t. I also thought the talk she had with Bi—I mean Han-na was nice. I understood where she was going with it. Also shows that Jae-hee doesn’t hold grudges.

One thing I’m ashamed of is my reaction to TJ’s hand-on-the-door-to-stop-her and his urging not to leave etc. USUALLY I’m like “WHAT?!?! How dare he try to tell her what to do?!?! What a b_tard!” Instead I was screeching like some idiot who just won the lottery. UGH.

Now I can confirm that that I am a sucker for an underdog drama.(Not drama about the underdog but drama which obviously underdog in terms of writing, directing and/or acting).
Last year, i am obssesed with Lie to Me while the rest of the kdrama world were gushing about Best Love. Now, I am on pins-an-needles about this drama eventhough there are NIce Guy, Arang and the rest.

It’s the same as the manga, Tae Joon/Sano only gives some signs and doesn’t say it directly because he afraid JaeHee/Ashiya will runaway when he said it. It takes 20 numbers of manga to make him finally say it.

Why the Thursday episode always better than Wednesday episode? Because I found the 11th episode is so boring compare to this 12th episode

This is my first-ever DB comment, haha! I’ve been loving and thoroughly enjoying the recaps and discussions for a long time now, so yay for de-lurking

I have to admit that it was gummi’s recaps of this series that finally made me go watch it (well, I started from Episode 4) and now I even catch the raws when I can. I also finally figured out where to stream it, squee!

After this episode I did have two very distinct reactions:
– So very sad about Eun-gyul, and I hate it. He’s the guy who did everything right: broke up with his girlfriend because he didn’t feel the same way she did, thought and agonized over what he was feeling, properly confessed to his object of affection, was honest enough to talk to her about it and ask if they could still have a friendly relationship like before, even ASKED Tae-joon what the deal was with his (Tae-joon)’s relationship with Jae-Hee…and we know that in the end, he won’t be the one with her.

– Also, please don’t get me wrong, I am ALL OVER the OTP, but… on the other hand, Tae-joon has kept his own secret from Jae-Hee (that he knows), hasn’t confessed to her at all, and instead says, “Don’t think of Eun-gyul when you’re with me. I won’t let you go back to America, etc etc.” On the one hand I squee’d because well, finally he showed a little bit of his feelings for her, but mostly I was…um…don’t tell her what she can or can’t do. Wouldn’t saying, “I don’t want you to go back,” coupled with a smoldering Flaming Charisma stare, have a better effect?

– A part of me is wishing that once Jae-Hee finds out Tae-joon knew all along she was girl, she would be angry with him. Just for a little more conflict. But that’s just me.

Sigh, they are just dragging all this stuff out (he won’t go to Canada, she’ll go home) and throwing in all the cute. I’m shallow; I like the cute. And I’m not complaining about the abs either.

Sano was all about “I know she’s a girl but I won’t tell her because I might lose her” in the manga too… the high points were really the times when he’s losing the battle with himself, and at the same time it’s frustrating because Ashiya is still all “does he like me? but he thinks I’m a boy, right? no he doesn’t like me, I’m just a roommate” so she misses the signals. At this point I’m thinking boy really just needs to kiss her already to get the point across.

It’s messed up because there was no mention of Sano getting an offer to go abroad to jump in the manga, so his sole motivation was really just making Ashiya stay in Japan. Gummi’s little bird is right about the obvious solution; they put too much emphasis on it that it’s lost its impact.

I’m guessing that scene with Hanna and Seung-ri will be sort of a “wakeup call” for Hanna’s behavior? We have only four episodes left!

“He refers to a folktale […] where the gist is a man was entrusted with the king’s secret that ate at him until he had to yell it out in the forest.”

So basically speaking it’s still part of Midas’s myths.

In this particular myth, Midas was a judge in a musical contest between the satyr Marsyas (others say it was Pan, and Midas was his follower) and Apollo (the former challenged the latter).

Marsyas manned the flute (actually the aulos, or the double flute, invented by Athena but later discarded by her since playing it required her to puff out her face (reasonable) which made her fugly) (in Pan’s case, his syrinx), and Apollo his signature lyre.

Marsyas had mastered the aulos and was quite competent with it, but everyone knows what happens when Apollo + lyre. So basically the prize was given to Apollo, but Midas dissented it, choosing to award it to the satyr.

Of course Apollo was angry. Not only did he had Marsyas flayed, he punished Midas by giving him a pair of donkey/ass ears, since Apollo reasoned that he cannot stand such depraved ears that Midas had.

So Midas had to be make a special cap so that it would hide his ears in public engagements (since he was still King of Phrygia). But he cannot avoid not having his hair trimmed. So Midas had no choice but to let the barber see them, but not without swearing the poor man to secrecy.

So apparently the barber couldn’t stand hiding such a heavy secret that he dug a hole and whispered into it “The King/Midas has donkey/ass ears.” and filled it in, content.

Unfortunately, reeds grew at the re-filled hole. And when they were all tall and grown up, whenever the wind blows, the reeds declare to the world what the barber said. And thus everyone knew.

The moral of the myth (during that time) was that it is very unwise not to side with a deity during judgment.

—

At least, we can now sympathize on HotHyeon-jae on why he’s so keen to challenge Tae-joon.

But anyways, the gratuitous chocolate scenes where Ho~ho~hot~…! Yummy~…I think I need a breather with this one. XD

Eek, I can taste the awkwardness between Eun Gyul and Jae Hee. I despise the avoidance stage after unrequited confessions. >_< It was a relief when he asked her to go back to the way things were.

So cute, talking on the phone with each other while in the same room! That's what I call love. Tae Joon working out to relieve his sexual frustrations was hilarious. And his excuse about the moisturizer being a free gift. How can Jae Hee be so heartless and not remember Hanna had told (shouted) her that Tae Joon was afraid of birds?

I just needed to say that the eye candy in this episode just floored me… also, was I the only one who wished that I can hose down Minho’s back coz daym…. I just needed to replay that scene coz water dripping down his torso is just…well…yeah